U.S. patent number 10,950,963 [Application Number 16/415,188] was granted by the patent office on 2021-03-16 for ribbon cable connector, connector assembly and use of a connector.
This patent grant is currently assigned to TE Connectivity Germany GmbH. The grantee listed for this patent is TE Connectivity Germany GmbH. Invention is credited to Marcel Baltes, Willi Dietrich, Christoph Kosmalski, Michael Schall, Robert Stab, Zoran Stjepanovic, Maximilian Veihl.
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United States Patent |
10,950,963 |
Veihl , et al. |
March 16, 2021 |
Ribbon cable connector, connector assembly and use of a
connector
Abstract
A ribbon cable connector for attachment to an end of a ribbon
cable comprises a plurality of contact element receptacles adapted
to receive a plurality of contact elements. A pair of adjacent
contact element receptacles is separated from one another.
Inventors: |
Veihl; Maximilian
(Seeheim-Jugenheim, DE), Kosmalski; Christoph
(Darmstadt, DE), Schall; Michael
(Heppenheim/Sonderbach, DE), Stab; Robert (Mannheim,
DE), Stjepanovic; Zoran (Darmstadt, DE),
Baltes; Marcel (Floersheim, DE), Dietrich; Willi
(Ober-Ramstadt, DE) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
TE Connectivity Germany GmbH |
Bensheim |
N/A |
DE |
|
|
Assignee: |
TE Connectivity Germany GmbH
(Bensheim, DE)
|
Family
ID: |
1000005426569 |
Appl.
No.: |
16/415,188 |
Filed: |
May 17, 2019 |
Prior Publication Data
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|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20190356072 A1 |
Nov 21, 2019 |
|
Foreign Application Priority Data
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|
|
|
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May 17, 2018 [DE] |
|
|
102018207794.0 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01R
12/778 (20130101); H01R 12/771 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01R
12/77 (20110101) |
Field of
Search: |
;439/492 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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|
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19927300 |
|
Dec 2000 |
|
DE |
|
0185153 |
|
Sep 1985 |
|
EP |
|
2001-210146 |
|
Aug 2001 |
|
JP |
|
2002-334617 |
|
Nov 2002 |
|
JP |
|
2003-203699 |
|
Jul 2003 |
|
JP |
|
2015-135754 |
|
Jul 2015 |
|
JP |
|
Other References
Extended European Search Report, European Patent Application No.
19174107.3, dated Oct. 1, 2019, 9 pages. cited by applicant .
German Office Action, dated Mar. 10, 2020, App No. 102018207794.0,
7 pages. cited by applicant .
EPO Communication, dated Dec. 21, 2020, 8 pages. cited by
applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Patel; Harshad C
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Barley Snyder
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A ribbon cable connector for attachment to an end of a ribbon
cable, comprising: a body defining a wire side end; a plurality of
contact element receptacles formed in the body and adapted to
receive a plurality of contact elements in a plug-in direction in
which the contact elements are plugged into the contact element
receptacles from the wire side end, each contact element receptacle
defining a plug-in aperture at a first end thereof, the plug-in
aperture defined within the body at first distance in the plug-in
direction from the wire side end, each pair of adjacent contact
element receptacles are separated from one another by a wall, the
wall between each pair of adjacent contact element receptacles
extends into one of a plurality of gaps in the ribbon cable
disposed between a plurality of conductors of the ribbon cable; and
a plurality of insulating elements, each insulating element
extending from the wall between each pair of adjacent contact
elements and into one of the plurality of the contact element
receptacles in a direction transverse to the plug-in direction, a
portion of the plurality of insulating elements extending beyond
the contact element receptacles in a direction opposite the plug-in
direction.
2. The ribbon cable connector of claim 1, wherein the contact
element receptacles are separated from one another along a total
extent of the contact element receptacles in the plug-in
direction.
3. The ribbon cable connector of claim 1, wherein first pairs of
the plurality of the contact element receptacles are separated from
one another by a wall extending a first distance from a position
within the contact element receptacle up to the plug-in
aperture.
4. The ribbon cable connector of claim 3, wherein second pairs of
the plurality of the contact element receptacles are separated from
one another by a wall extending a second distance, greater than the
first distance, from a position within the contact element
receptacle up to the wire-side end of the connector.
5. The ribbon cable connector of claim 1, wherein the plurality of
insulating elements are each a protrusion having a height less than
a height of the wall from which it extends.
6. The ribbon cable connector of claim 1, wherein the distance
between each of the insulating elements and a respective contact
element plugged into a contact element receptacle in the direction
transverse to the plug-in direction is less than the distance
between the respective contact element and the wall from which the
insulating element extends.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35
U.S.C. .sctn. 119(a)-(d) of German Patent Application No.
102018207794.0, filed on May 17, 2018.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a ribbon cable connector and, more
particularly, to a ribbon cable connector attached to an end of a
ribbon cable.
BACKGROUND
In a ribbon cable, several conductors run parallel to one another
in a joint insulating casing. Ribbon cables are often used for the
transmission of signals. In this case, they are also attached to
ribbon cable connectors. In ribbon cable connectors, an undesired
transmission of signals between contact element receptacles can
occur through the flow of current.
SUMMARY
A ribbon cable connector for attachment to an end of a ribbon cable
comprises a plurality of contact element receptacles adapted to
receive a plurality of contact elements. A pair of adjacent contact
element receptacles are separated from one another.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described by way of example with
reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector assembly according to
an embodiment prior to plugging-in;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 in
a plugged-together state;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 in
the plugged-together state;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a ribbon cable in a pre-mounting
state according to an embodiment; and
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the ribbon cable of FIG. 4 in a
split state.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter
in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like
reference numerals refer to like elements. The present invention
may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be
construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein;
rather, these embodiments are provided so that the disclosure will
convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art.
The embodiments described herein are each independent of one
another and can be combined with one another as desired, depending
on necessity in a specific application.
A connector assembly 100 according to an embodiment is shown in
FIG. 1 in a state prior to plugging-in and in FIGS. 2 and 3 in a
plugged-in state. The connector assembly 100 comprises a ribbon
cable connector 20 and a ribbon cable 1.
The ribbon cable connector 20, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, has a
plurality of contact element receptacles 22, into which a plurality
of contact elements 21 arranged at the ribbon cable 1 can be
plugged along a plug-in direction E. The contact elements 21 can
form pins or sockets, for example, which can be plugged together
with corresponding mating elements of a mating connector (not
shown).
The individual contact element receptacles 22 are separated from
one another by walls 30, as shown in FIGS. 1-3. The walls 30
prevent signals from migrating from one contact element 21 to the
next contact element 21. Such a disruption occurs above all through
creepage distances 35 between the individual contact elements 21,
shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, along which electric currents flow. As a
result of the separation by the walls 30, these creepage distances
35 are lengthened, which means that, in use, no current can flow
and an undesired transmission of signals is prevented.
As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the contact element receptacles 22 are
configured as shafts 23 extending with an approximately unchanging
cross-section along the plug-in direction E. The shaft walls 24
form the walls 30. The walls 30 extend at least up to plug-in
apertures 40 of the contact element receptacles 22. Some of the
walls 30 extend further up to a wire-side end 50 of the ribbon
cable connector 20 and, as a result, further lengthen the creepage
distances 35. In an embodiment, the contact element receptacles 22
are separated from one another along a total extend of the contact
element receptacle 22 in the plug-in direction E.
The ribbon cable connector 20, as shown in FIG. 1, has a plurality
of insulating elements 55 at the wire-side end 50. The insulating
element 55 is configured as a protrusion 56 or a protruding wall 57
and further increases the creepage distance 35. The insulating
elements 55 separate the conductors 2 against the plug-in direction
E beyond the contact element receptacles 22.
The ribbon cable 1, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, has a plurality of
conductors 2 embedded in an insulating element 3 which acts as a
carrier and also insulates the conductors 2 from one another and
outwardly. At a connector-side end 5, the contact elements 21 are
attached to the conductors 2. In order to have space for the walls
30, there are gaps 11 at the connector-side end 5, so that the
conductors 2 are individualized at the wire-side end 5 but are at
least partly insulated. The insulation at these locations is
obtained from the remainder of an insulating casing 8 which has not
been removed. The gaps 11 can be produced, for example, by stamping
or cutting out with a blade. Other methods, such as removal by
melting, for instance by a laser, can also be used.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, an edge 12 of the gap 11
surrounds the gap 11 and is rectangular with corners. Such a
configuration can be particularly easy to produce. In another
embodiment, the edge 12 can also run smoothly so that no corners
are present, as a result of which the risk of cracks arising at the
corners is reduced.
The conductors 2 can be stripped at an outermost end, in order to
produce a good electrical contact to the contact elements 21. The
insulation can still be present in other regions, for example in
regions which are crimped with the contact elements 21, but can be
at least partly broken up during the crimping process, for example.
The insulations arranged around the conductors 2 can be
continuations of the insulation of the ribbon cable 1.
In the plugged-together state shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the walls 30
of the ribbon cable connector 20 extend into the gaps 11 and, as a
result, lengthen the creepage distances 35 and the air gaps between
the contact elements 21. The incisions 12 or gaps 11 can have a
depth 25 which corresponds to at least the difference between a
plug-in depth 26, along which the conductor 2 is plugged in the
ribbon cable connector 20, and a contact length 27, along which the
conductor 2 is stripped. The gap 11 extends between a stripped
section and a jointly coated section 16 of the conductors 2.
A ribbon cable 1' according to another embodiment is shown in FIGS.
4 and 5. The ribbon cable 1' has, between the conductors 2, gaps 11
which are still closed at the connector-side end 5, in order to
attain sufficient stability. The contact elements 21 are attached
to the conductors 2 by crimping. The connections at the
connector-side end 5 are then split, so that, as shown in FIG. 5,
the individual conductors 2 are individualized and partly
insulated. As a result, they can be inserted into the contact
element receptacles 22, with the walls 30 being situated in the
gaps 11 in the mounted state. In the embodiment according to FIGS.
4 and 5, the edge 12 of the gaps 11 is rounded particularly in a
rear region, so that the risk of crack formation is smaller.
* * * * *